News

The Market

Scotland is the only part of the UK where house prices are still rising, according to a new survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

The survey says that 49% more RICS members in the UK recorded price falls last month than those who recorded rises — the highest proportion since 1992. “Choosy buyers can now afford to bide their time,” says Jeremy Leaf of the RICS. Sales are now 29% lower than at this time last year.

Property prices across the UK fell another 0.8% in April, reducing annual inflation to just 6.9% and lowering the cost of the average property to £181,832, according to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The slowdown is being felt most in London, where the annual house-price rise is now only 2.9%, and in East Anglia, where it is 3.9%. The ODPM, which bases its figures on a sample of 25%